Qatar and Saudi Arabia decided to disable gas and oil facilities following attacks from Iran

The decision by Saudi Aramco and Qatar Energy to shut down their facilities seems to be mainly due to the fact that shutting down the gas and oil facilities allows for their faster rehabilitation, but there is also a geopolitical aspect to this, pressure from countries like Qatar to stop exporting can also affect the positions of countries in the West, for example Great Britain and Germany, which rely significantly on the export of Qatari gas. In any case, this will have an impact on Europe’s decision-making in terms of the war with Iran.

In Qatar itself, Qatar Energy announced a temporary halt to the production of LNG and related products after drone attacks that damaged operational facilities in Ras Lapan as well as in the Masaid industrial area.

The decision was presented as a precautionary move designed to ensure the safety of the workers and prevent secondary damage to the liquefaction, storage and export systems, until a situation assessment and comprehensive safety tests are completed. Ras Lapan is considered one of the largest LNG export centers in the world, and any stoppage, even if temporary, has immediate consequences for global energy markets.

The stoppage of LNG production in Qatar raises the risk premium in the energy markets amid fears of tightening global supply. Qatar is one of the main suppliers of liquefied natural gas to European and Asian markets, and an interruption in cargo flow could affect futures contracts and gas pricing in the short term. In a reality where Europe relies on LNG imports as a substitute for other supplies, such a move has the potential to have a wide impact beyond the Gulf region.

At the same time, the spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, Majed Al-Ansari, said that Qatar had intercepted Iranian attacks aimed at civilian infrastructure, including the international airport in Doha. According to him, this is an attack designed to undermine civil and economic stability, and he emphasized that actions of this type “cannot remain unanswered”. It was also noted that at this stage there are no direct diplomatic contacts between Doha and Tehran.